Over Christmas I bought a Big Green Egg I read all the marketing blurb in the brochure and it captured my imagination, I’ve already written about how good it is and published some kamado barbecue recipes but I was still intrigued to find out more about the origins of such a versatile piece of cooking equipment

Valentine’s day is just around the corner and it’s time for us men to get our act together and spoil our wives, partners, fiancées and girlfriends St Valentine is the patron saint of lovers so it’s time to show our love so I’ve jotted down a few ideas and reminders of some of the things you can do but remember I am the “Barbecue Smoker Recipe Man” so there’s a BBQ slant to that all important point about how to cook a meal for your loved one

This Christmas will be the biggest ever for online shopping despite the doom and gloom predictions of the retailers Consumer confidence may have disappeared from the high street but it’s the online sector that’s set for bumper Christmas sales

“Going out to Spain again How wonderful

The technique of indirect cooking is essentially a slow roasting process which guarantees a tender result When you think about it it’s pretty logical

I’ve seen many lists about wood chips and what meats best accompany them and it’s always struck me that this is approaching the problem for the wrong side The wood chip is choosing the food and in my book it should be the food choosing the wood chip

The first meat that I ever wanted to cook on a barbecue was a chicken using the rotisserie and I’ve never really stopped to think about why I guess it’s down to “the boy with a new toy” mentality in that the BBQ spit came in the pack with the grill and a rotisserie cooking process adds dynamism

Before firing up the BBQ smoker, many chefs will either cure or brine the fish or meat as a way of adding extra flavor Curing and brining however have been traditional methods of preserving food for donkeys years and in today’s refrigerated society the techniques and skills have been on the wane

Writing a website full of BBQ Smoker Recipes is a time consuming business even at the best of times I take pride in ensuring that the pictures I put up on my site are of food that I have cooked and not some glossy template purchased on the internet and I also want my recipes to be innovative

It’s interesting to note that before Henry Ford made the BBQ grill popular by link selling it to his cars with the vision of day trips and pic-nics, charcoal was nothing but a waste product left over from the recovery of acetic acid and methanol In the early 1900’s after more efficient and less expensive methods were developed for synthesizing acetic acid and methanol, charcoal production declined only to be revitalized by the development of the briquette for recreational cooking